[Intro to Ganhwa Seon] 01. Essense and Benefits of Seon

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Introduction to Ganhwa Seon

Chapter
1. What is Seon (禪
Jp. Zen)?

1. Essence and
Benefits of Seon

Seon is about Seeing
Everything as It Is

Think of a
trail. The world blanketed in snow. And the moon in the sky. Have you ever
walked along that white path? The soft and gentle glow of the moonlight allows
us to see houses, mountains, trees, empty tree branches, friends on the same
journey and the round moon on the sky as they are.

Everything as it
is, without anything hidden or masked. All is vividly revealed through Seon.
Seon is about seeing and acting upon what we discover as it is. There is
nothing to be added or omitted because the essence is transparent; exposed in
the realm of Seon.

Pure, bright,
clean and lucid. Life is inside us. It’s not something only some people have
while others do not; nor sometimes we have it and other times we do not. Seeing
the essence that everyone has all the time is Seon. At the same time, Seon
leaves no trace as if birds in the sky do so. Indeed, it is succinct, fresh and
gentle as the following Seon poem illustrates:

The bamboo shadows are sweeping the stairs,
But no dust is stirred:
The moonlight penetrates deep in the bottom of the pool,
But no trace is left in the water.

This is a Seon
poem written by Yefu Daochuan (冶父道川)
in the Song dynasty. Please reflect carefully on the poem. Thorough
appreciation of the poem and deep reflection of one’s true self are the very
beginning and ending of Seon.

Seon traces its
origin to India. Seon is the transliteration of Dhyana, which was translated into Chan in China. This was
pronounced as Zen in Japan and Zen Buddhism was introduced to the western
culture. So Seon is more commonly known as Zen. Dhyana means practicing through in-depth reflection (思惟修). However, reflection
here is not thinking something analytically in the face of certain
circumstances. It is spiritual practice with full concentration on our mind,
ultimately seeing the true nature of our tranquil mind.

Features
of Ganhwa Seon

There are
different kinds of Seon practice. Among them Ganhwa Seon (看話禪) is the most
well-established form of Seon practice in Korea. Ganhwa Seon cuts all arising
thoughts or judgments off right away by fully immersing oneself into hwadu (話頭), a short phrase from
the quotations by Patriarchs or Seon masters, which leads us to see Buddha
nature inside us without delusions. One of the most distinguishable features of
Ganhwa Seon is investigating the hwadu, cutting all acts of thinking off and
exploring one’s true self. Ganhwa Seon aims to go right into the essence of our
mind whereas other practices of Seon concentrate our mind on one object and
gradually enter the phase of deep observation.

Simply put,
Ganhwa Seon is about straightly heading to our mind, getting rid of all dust
that covers up the basic fundamental of our mind, which is already pure and
pristine, and bringing life to the fundamental of our mind. It is like enabling
inherited vivid life of roots and branches to be revealed as it is, so that
branches grow exuberantly and leaves become lush green, rather than making each
branch and leaf clean and shiny. Or it is like getting right into the very
source of a spring and letting water cascade, instead of cleaning the flowing
water while gradually going up to the origin. As such, it is transforming the
basic fundamental of our mind, rather than sticking to periphery parts.

As such, going
right into the core, essence, source of a spring and roots and attaining
enlightenment is called dono (頓悟),
sudden enlightenment. Dono was first demonstrated through Patriarchal Seon (祖師禪), which originated
from Patriarch Bodhidharma. Ganhwa Seon, which is also called Cham Seon (參禪), Jwa Seon (坐禪) or just Seon in
Korea, has kept the spirit of Patriarchal Seon intact as the most developed
form of Patriarchal Seon practice.

Cham Seon (參禪) is the combination of
participation and Seon, meaning participating in Seon practice. Meanwhile, Jwa
Seon (坐禪)
means practicing Seon while sitting. Usually one begins the practice by sitting
in full-lotus posture, with one’s spine straightened up and eyes half-opened.
As this type of sitting Seon meditation practice is typical, Ganhwa Seon, Cham
Seon, Jwa Seon and Seon are not distinguished strictly. In Korean Buddhism,
Seon mostly means Ganhwa Seon.

Benefits of Seon
Practice

Then what can we
attain from Seon practice? Simply put, where could we find benefits of Seon
practice? The most important point is finding and seeing the true self. Seon is
about finding genuine nature of ourselves here and now: never swayed by any
tempting words, vividly living in this moment, not ever-changing but consistent
all the time, taking a brave step forward even in a life threatening moment,
peaceful and free. However, more precisely it is just seeing the true nature
which we already have as it is rather than finding it from outside.

In addition, Ganhwa Seon practice enables us

▪ Not to be at a loss or react to
external stimulus▪
Not to feel anxious or scared▪
To be confident▪
To control delusions and afflictions while fully awake to the present moment▪
Not to be stressed out▪
To feel the freedom and peace of our mind▪
To be accommodating and natural▪
To develop stability and concentration of our mind▪
To remove confrontations and conflicts▪
Not to be unwillingly swayed by subjective perceptions▪
To always live in the moment▪
To live everyday fully▪
To live a sound life with strong willpower through the harmony between mind and
body

All in all,
benefits of Ganhwa Seon encompass recent wellness trends and therefore, it is
the most suitable practice for modern people who are always on the go.
I would like to walk you through Ganhwa Seon by giving more details on
above-mentioned benefits of Seon practice.

* Please note that this writing is an excerpt from the book, "Introduction to Ganhwa Seon" published by the Bureau of Dharma Propagation and is contained in the spring 2016 edition of the Lotus Lantern magazine under Buddhist Culture Section on page 18~24.